Casee‘s review of Love You to Death by Shannon K. Butcher.
LOVE YOU TO DEATH
It’s been days since reporter Elise McBride has heard from her sister, Ashley. She’s convinced Ashley has met with some kind of foul play, especially when she learns that bodies of other missing women have surfaced in and around Chicago–all victims of a brutal serial killer. Convinced her sister is still alive, Elise vows to risk everything to save her…
The last thing ex-cop Trent Brady needs is more blood on his hands. Yet when he catches Elise breaking into her sister’s house, full of reckless determination and fear, he knows she needs his help. But just as desire ignites between them, a twisted madman sets his sights on Elise. Hell-bent on possessing her for himself, this psychopath won’t rest until he has his perfect woman.
Shannon K. Butcher writes riveting romantic suspense. Really, it’s riveting. Everything from the hero to the heroine to the villain in this book had me glued to the pages. It was a dark book, but it had flashes of humor which helped it not be too dark.
When Elise McBride doesn’t hear from her sister Ashley in a week, she immediately flies to Chicago. It is out of the ordinary for Ashley to be unavailable and Elise is naturally expecting the worst. She always had to take care of Ashley when they were growing up and adulthood hasn’t cured her of that inclination. She knows something bad has happened, but she doesn’t know where to start.
Trent Brady sees Elise go into Ashley’s house and think she’s breaking in. It’s only when he goes to confront her that he finds out who she is and what she’s doing there. Trent has always done his best to look out for Ashley, a woman that doesn’t seem to have very much common sense, but he didn’t think anything when he didn’t see her for a week.
The villain in this book is vile. If you read it, you’ll understand. ‘Nuff said.
Elise is so self-sufficient that she has a hard time counting on Trent. One thing that did get old is how Trent continually tried to get Elise out of town. Once they learned that Ashley was most likely abducted, Trent wanted Elise to go back to Hong Kong (where she was working) and let him call her when it was resolved. Srsly. That was so out there, it was just ludicrous.
If you want a good romantic suspense, this is it.
4.25 out of 5.
This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
This book had a creepy, awful, heinous villain. That’s all I remember about it. The romance didn’t stick with me. The evilness of the villain will never leave.
I do love her books, too. This was another excellent one.
I really need to try her.
You won’t like her.
Ok, I guess that answers that. *marks her off the list* Thanks for sparing me the trouble.
I did not care for this Shannon K. Butcher offering. Yes, the villain was vile, but because Trent and Elise held very little interest for me, I found him to be the best part of the book.
I just re-read the first book of Shannon’s Delta Force trilogy, ‘No Regrets’, and it puts this book to absolute shame. David Wolfe and Noelle Blanche (translates to White Christmas!) are the epitome of the type of hero and heroine I look for in a romantic suspense novel. She is extremely intelligent, not bitchy, nasty or condescending, and can handle herself in a dire situation. He is an alpha male, able to kill if the situation warrants it, but is gentle with, and adoring of, the woman he loves. ‘No Control’, the second book in the trilogy, with Caleb Stone and Lana Hancock, is very good as well. ‘No Escape’, the final book of the trilogy, with Grant Kent and Isabelle Carson, was a DNF for me. As in ‘Love You To Death’, I felt no connection whatsoever to the hero and heroine.
I do not like to criticize an author’s writing abilities as I am sure it is an arduous and painstaking task getting a book from conception to publication. I just choose to say that the story was not the right choice for me at the time I chose to read it. Despite some misses, there are a lot of excellent books out there…as my bending-under-the-weight keeper shelf can attest to!